Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Got
something a little on the ugly side? Just
grab a can of spray paint and make it darling!

Our
little mini fridge was beginning to show its age and a couple of scratches on
the side had decided to rust. Not the
shabby chic look we were going for and since it still works like a champ we
weren't too motivated to trash it either.

My
oldest decided she wanted it in her new "teenager hangout/bedroom" so
we decided to paint it. She chose a can
of turquoise paint at Home Depot and we got to work. After spending a little time cleaning up the
outside of the refrigerator she carefully masked it off with painters
tape. Then she gave it a final wipe down
with a clean rag and some rubbing alcohol to make sure there wasn't any type of residue
on it that would cause the paint to lift.

I
had the pleasure of doing the actual painting.
I gave it two coats and two hours later it was ready to move upstairs to
the "hangout". She loves it
and I think it turned out fabulous.

That
project motivated me to grab a can of gloss white and give our stair rail a
fresh coat of paint. It had been awhile
since it had been painted and the tenants had removed it to bring down their
furniture from upstairs and had left it leaning against the living room
wall. May as well spruce it up before I
go to the trouble of re-installing it.
Right?!

We
cleaned it off and gave it a once over with rubbing alcohol just like the
fridge. It amazed me how much stuff came
off the railing with the rag and alcohol after it had just been cleaned. After two good coats of paint and a couple
hours to dry the three of us girls got it back in the house and screwed into
place on the stairs.

How cute is this!?!

It
felt really good to give two worn out items a much needed facelift. I almost forgot how much I love these kinds
of projects. Now they are done and I am
fueled to get going on another one. Hmmmmm. I wonder what it will be?

Monday, September 29, 2014

Sunday
I went to ShopKo because I had a $12 store coupon about to expire and a list. I needed a new set of sheets to fit my new
bed and it was time to get the youngest some new school clothes. I found a beautiful set of Egyptian cotton
sheets for $89.99 on sale for $34.99 and jean for the girl for $11.99
each. I bought her two pair and a really
cute top we found on clearance for $7.49.
I also bought myself 3 pair of black dress socks for work on sale for
$4.99. By the time we checked out and I
used the coupon I ended up getting one pair of my daughters jeans for
free. Yaaay! When they gave me my receipt they also gave
me a $10 coupon for my next visit.

Although
the bill for the credit card I used to order my dining room chairs and table
hasn’t come yet I went ahead and logged onto my account online and made an
early payment using the overtime I earned this past pay period. When my bill comes next month I plan to pay
off the remaining balance.

When
I moved back into the house I decided to switch my mortgage payment dates
around to different paydays. This week I
paid my house payment ten days early which will now be the norm and will save
me quite a bit of interest in the long run.
Adding a few extra dollars each time will add to the savings.

I
listed the RV for sale on Craigslist and reposted the camper shell. I also listed our cute little washing
machine.

I
spent $4 for a can of white spray paint and repainted our stair rail. It turned out really nice.

I
baked two loaves of whole wheat bread and made a big batch of refried
beans. I put up four containers of the
beans in our freezer and used a fifth one to make beef and bean burritos for
our supper one night this week.

Saturday
morning I printed off a $4 coupon online for my favorite shampoo. At Walmart I was able to use it to buy a
large bottle of shampoo and one of conditioner.
I found that the big bottles were only a dollar more for almost twice as
much as the regular size making it a much better bargain. Factoring in the coupon it made the big
bottles half price.

Friday, September 26, 2014

To
say our cupboards were bare would have been an understatement. We moved in with very little and had to start
from scratch. But now they are filling
up and that always makes me very happy.
Especially as we gear up for winter and high monthly heat bills.

My
goal was to restock and get as much as I could for as little as I could
spend. I think I did rather well all
things considered. There were several
items on my list I had to go without because the prices were just too high. Primarily that was beef. With the exception of a package of frozen
hamburger patties, I pretty much didn't buy any, especially since lean ground
beef has been running nearly $5 a pound!
Finally toward the end of the month I found some packages of extra lean
ground beef in the markdown bin and I bought three of them.

I
jostled the menu plan a little and substituted pork or poultry where I could
and things turned out rather well. We
enjoyed some delicious meat less meals too.

I
blew the budget on our non food purchases coming in at $44.36. Still not bad considering everything I bought
and was able to stock up on. In
preparation of winter and cold season I picked up 10 boxes of tissue, one was a
box of lotion tissues and I had a friend grab me a case of toilet paper at
Costco while he was there. Additionally,
I bought cat food, dish soap, toiletries, hand soap, cleaning supplies, coffee
filters and dryer sheets, most of which came from the dollar store.

I
have a long list of the groceries I purchased to restock our pantry and freezer
so bare with me. Nearly everything I
bought was on sale and I maximized my savings by adding coupons to sales items
whenever I could. My goal was to keep it
under $300 this month.

I
think I did pretty well:

Chopped clams (3)

2.37

Store Coupon

Cake mix (4)

2.00

Store Promotion

Crackers (3)

5.00

Store Coupon

Crackers

1.25

Sale/Coupon

Pasta (2)

1.00

Sale/Coupon

BBQ Sauce

0.79

Store Coupon

Cranberry juice

0.88

Sale/Coupon

Green beans (2)

0.98

Sale

Creamed corn (2)

0.98

Sale

Bread

1.28

Sale

Taco shells

1.00

Corn tortillas

0.88

Flour tortillas

1.38

Corn dogs - 16ct

3.48

Sale

Hamburger patties -
20ct

11.98

Sale

Frozen meatballs

1.98

Sale

Pot pies (4)

2.72

Sale

Margarine

0.78

Sale

Oatmeal (2)

4.84

Zoom

1.98

Smoked sausages

3.48

Sale

Brown sugar

1.38

Sale

Chicken breasts - 3#

5.98

Sale

Raisins

1.72

Pop Tarts (2)

2.96

Sale

Salad dressing (2)

3.00

Sale/Coupon

Fideo (2)

0.64

Orzo

0.35

Pasta (6)

4.68

Sale

Eggs

1.37

Ramen (6)

1.08

Non stick spray

1.97

Sale

Baking chips (2)

4.16

Sale

Tater tots

1.34

Flour - 5#

1.57

Sale

Sugar - 4#

1.68

Sale

Parmesan (2)

3.96

Sale

Tuna (12)

8.28

Sale

Wieners (2)

1.56

Sale

Soy sauce

0.98

Sale/Coupon

Teriyaki sauce

0.98

Sale/Coupon

Ketchup

0.88

Sale

Butter

2.88

Bean & bacon soup

1.78

Lunch meat (3)

3.96

Sale

Spaghettios

1.22

Enchilada sauce (2)

3.56

Sale

Graham crackers

1.58

Sale

Peanut butter

2.88

Sale

Olives (3)

1.81

Sale

Sauce packets (10)

4.50

Green olives

1.81

Sale

Rice - 5#

3.14

Sale

Canned tomatoes (6)

3.48

Asparagus soup

1.58

Cream soup (3)

2.50

Nestles Quik

6.78

Sale

Fruit cocktail

0.98

Tomato sauce (4)

2.32

Lettuce

0.78

Spinach

1.78

Veggie mix

3.98

Coleslaw mix

0.98

Potatoes - 3#

1.98

Bell peppers (2)

1.16

Sale

Carrots - 2#

0.98

Celery

1.48

Tomatoes

0.70

Sale

Cucumber

0.38

Sale

Onions

1.62

Bananas

0.90

Pineapple slices

0.98

Sale

Pesto

1.98

Sale

Honey

3.08

Gingersnaps

1.32

Hotdog buns

0.75

Hamburger buns

0.75

Mushrooms

2.18

Brownie mix

1.08

Mapeline

3.05

Pork chops

2.19

Markdown

Pork chops

2.68

Markdown

Pork chops

1.68

Markdown

Leg quarters

2.75

Markdown

Leg quarters

2.97

Markdown

Italian sausage

2.99

Markdown

Hot Italian sausage
(2)

6.00

Markdown

Turkey ham (2)

4.06

Markdown

Eggs

0.88

Store Coupon

Nutella

1.99

Sale/Coupon

Ice Cream (2)

3.00

Store Coupon/Coupon

Pop Tarts - 48ct

7.99

Store Coupon/Coupon

Cereal (4)

5.32

Store Coupon/Coupon

Cheese - 2# (2)

9.98

Store Coupon

Ground turkey

2.54

Sale/Coupon

Lettuce (4)

1.76

Sale

Cinnamon rolls

1.00

Sale

Pasta (7)

5.53

Sale

Yogurt - 32oz

1.39

Markdown

Bread

1.33

Store Coupon

Butter (2)

4.00

Store Coupon

Chicken

4.86

Markdown

Chicken thighs

4.27

Markdown

Chicken

1.95

Markdown

Ground pork sausage

1.75

Markdown

Ground beef

2.71

Markdown

Ground beef

2.75

Markdown

Ground beef

2.68

Markdown

Milk - 1 gal.

1.88

Store Coupon

Baking chips (3)

5.37

Store Coupon

Sliced turkey

1.99

Markdown

Sliced turkey

1.99

Markdown

Salami

1.99

Markdown

Potatoes - 10#

0.99

Sale

Mushrooms

0.99

Markdown

Sausage breakfast links (5)

5.00

Sale

Total

$
293.40

Items
in red are stock up items and should last for a long time to come. I plan to go back to my regular shopping
routine and budget in October and throughout the remainder of the year.